Table for envelope-treating machines



Nov. 17, 1.942. C.' D. RYAN y 2,302,261

TABLE FOR ENVELLOFE-TREATING MACHINES F''led Oct. 25, 1940 `one at a time in rapid succession.

Patentedv Nov. 17, 1942 TABLE FOR ENVELOPE-TREATING Y.

MACHINES Commodore D. Ryan, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to National Postal Meter` Company, Inc., a

corporation of Delaware Application October 25, 1940, Serialv No. 362,727

(Cl. 1Z0-6) 4 Claims.

l This invention relates to machines for treating Ymatter such as envelopes. Thus it is particularly useful in machines for sealing envelopes, printing postage on envelopes, printing addresses on Y envelopes, etc., although it also may be employed with machines for treating objects other than envelopes, 'such as slips of paper, or cardboard, etc.

A general object of the invention is to facilitate hand-feeding of envelopes and the like into a machine, one at a time.

A more specific object is to provide a table on a machine for treating envelopes, or the like,

- which table is simple and inexpensive, and yet at the .same time facilitates the accurate andy following detailed description of a particular emy bodiment thereof, as illustrated in the drawing.

In large machines for printing or treating objects, such as envelopes, in large quantities,

A it is customary to provide amagazine into which a quantity of envelopes are placed by hand,

with' an automatic mechanism for feeding the envelopes'from the magazine into the machine i However, there are a great many small printing machines adapted'to handle such small quantities of matter that the 'provision of a magazine and an automatic feeding mechanism from the magazine is not justified. Heretofore, in operating such machines, it has been the practice for the operator topick up envelopes, for example, one at a time, and feed them into the machine.

In accordance with the present invention, I provide a very simple supporting structure for small machines of the type described, which greatly simplifies and speeds up the manual feed of the enevelopes into the machine.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of that portion of an envelope-sealing and postage-printing machine into which envelopes are fed;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view, taken in the plane III- III of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional viewtaken in the plane IV-IV of Fig, 1.

Referring to the drawing, there is disclosed a postage-printing machine which seals and prints postage onto envelopes fed therethrough.

in printing position between a printing head 2 positioned above the table I and a platen'3 positioned below the table. The details of the printing apparatus do not Vconstitute a part of the present invention. Suffice it to say that envelopes are slid by hand from left to right along the table I into printing position between the printing head 2 and the platen 3.

The present invention relates to the construction of the table at a point to the left of the printing head 2, where a stack of envelopes is positioned and envelopes fed therefrom one at a time onto the table I.

Thus, as shown to best advantage in Fig. 2, the table I merges at an upper edge 4 into the upper portion of an .inclined plane 5, which in turn merges at its lower edge into a horizontal plate 6 positioned parallel to, but below, the level of the table I.

The plate v6 is of sufiicient length to support the leading ends of a stack of standard short envelopes, While the trailing ends overhang the and sliding it along the table I.

plate 6 forready support by the operators left hand, as shown in Fig. 1. When feeding the envelopes into the machine, the operator lightly presses the stack of envelopes against the inclined plane 5 to cause the envelopes to shingle, thereby facilitating separation. The envelopes are fed one by one into `the machinevby stripping the top envelope from the stack with the operators right-hand fingers, shown in Fig. 1, This stripping is accomplished by virtue of the fact that the It includes a table I which supports an envelope friction between the finger tips Vand the top envelope is greater than the friction between the top envelope and the next envelope therebelow.

The degree of effectiveness of the envelope stripping may be controlled within limits by varying the angle of inclination of the stack with respect 'to the inclined plane 5. The higher the left end of the stack, the greater the resistance to movement of the envelopes. As the stack diminishes, it may be raised up along the inclined plane 5 by pushing the stack bodily to the right. With a little practice, the operator quickly learns the best position and angle of the stack for rapid feeding of the envelopes, one at a time.

By virtue of the fact that the inclined plane 5 is straight, it exerts the same retarding influence on al1 of the envelopes.

There is incorporated in the machine shown in the drawings, a moistening device for moistening the gum on the naps of the envelopes as they are fed from the stack onto the table I.

Thus referring to Fig. 3, the inclined plane 5 consists of a sheet-metal member which is bent at its upper end to form an extension 1 level with the table I and tilted downwardly at its right end to form a lip 8. Similarly, the left end of the table I is tilted downwardly to form an inclined lip 9, and a moistening tongue I0 is positioned above the lips 8 and 9. This moistening tongue I0 is supported at its forward end on the table I, as indicated in Fig. 4, and is connected through a fitting I I and a tube I2 with a water reservoir, not shown. The tongue I0 has a narrow slit in its underside through which water seeps to moisten the gummed surface of an envelope ap passing thereunder.

Referring now to Fig. 1, envelopes are positioned in the stack with their flaps folded under the body of the envelope, and as the top envelope is moved oi the stack up over the inclined plane 5, the iiap is separated from the body of the envelope by a curved edge I5 of a vane I4. AS

shown to best advantage in Figs. 2 and 4, the front portion of the edge I5 of the vane I4 is bent downwardly to form a lip I6, resting against the table I immediately in back of the edge 4 so that the leading edge of the body of an envelope riding up over the edge 4 is guided onto the upper surface of the vane I4 and passes over the moistening tongue I0, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3. However, the ap of the envelope is separated from the body by the curved edge I5 of the vane I4 and is guided below the moistening tongue I0 so that the gummed surface of the flap moves past the slit I3 through which water escapes to meisten the gum. The ap is later pressed against the envelope to cause it to adhere thereto, by pressure means which does not constitute a part of the present invention and will, therefore, not be described.

To guide the envelope in the desired path of travel relative to the flap-moistening structure and the printing mechanism, a vertical guide wall I8 is provided at the rear edge of the plate E, the inclined plane 5, and the left end of the table I. There is also, preferably, a spring finger I9 secured to the guide wall I 8, the free end of which engages each envelope as it moves up over the edge 4 to hold it down to facilitate the entry of the edge I5 of the vane I4 between the envelope and its iiap.

The number of envelopes that can be handled in one stack above the plate 6 depends upon the length of the straight portion of the inclined plane 5. Obviously if the stack is of such vertical dimensions that the second envelope from the top is positioned above the yedge 4, then the force restraining that envelope against feeding movement will be lessened, and there is an increased chance of its being fed into the machine simultaneously with the top envelope.

Although for the purpose of explaining the invention a specic embodiment thereof has been described in considerable detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact construction, but is limited only to the extent set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A table for supporting a series of ilat objects to be successively treated by a machine, said table having an edge over which objects are fed onto the table, a straight inclined plane leading upwardly to and joined with said edge and defining therewith an abrupt corner, whereby a stack of objects can be supported at their front edges on said inclined plane and the top object slid oi the stack up along said inclined plane and onto and along said tab-le.

2. A table for supporting a series of iiat objects to be successively treated by a machine, said table having an edge over which objects are fed onto the table, an inclined plane leading upwardly to and joined with said edge and defining therewith an abrupt corner, an auxiliary table positioned at an angle to said inclined plane and at a lower level than said first-mentioned table, said inclined plane merging into said auxiliary table.

3. A table for supporting a series of at objects to be successively treated by a machine, said table having an edge over which objects are fed onto the table, an inclined plane leading upwardly to and joined with said edge and defining therewith an abrupt corner, and guide means mounted above said table adjacent to said edge for holding objects down against said table as they are slid onto said table over said edge.

4. A table for supporting a series of flat objects to be successively treated by a machine, said table having an edge over which objects are fed onto the table, an inclined plane leading upwardly to and joined with said edge and dening therewith an abrupt corner, an auxiliary table positioned at an angle to said inclined plane and at a lower level than said first-mentioned table said inclined plane merging into said auxiliary table, a vertical guide plate arranged at the rear edges of said tables and said inclined plane, and a resilient depresser member secured to said vertical guide plate for pressing each envelope against said first-mentioned table as it is fed over said edge.

COMMODORE D. RYAN. 

